Friday, November 30, 2012

So excited to announce a new category section for the website stores. Just got in a box of porcelain beads for you at a special price. Pictures have been taken, edited, and listings are going up. This means I can bring large porcelain beads to your inventory for a great price. You know how I love to look for deals and pass them on. So with this new addition there has to be a change with the homepage categories on the http://Beads2string.net website. There will now be a picture for the porcelain bead category on the homepage. The decision has been made to move the "vintage bead" category into the "plastic lucite resin bead" category. From there, sub-categories for "vintage lucite beads" and "vintage plastic beads" will be added to the over all plastic category. For the ArtFire store and http://beads2string.com store there will be a new "porcelain bead" section.

Really hope that you enjoy the selection of porcelain beads I was able to obtain. This is just the beginning and a test run to see what beads you really like. I will continue to search for more beautiful porcelain beads to add to the new inventory selections. Here is a sneek peak at some of the new porcelain beads to browse through:

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Hi all, just popping in to let you know that the Beads2string stores will be growing again, with inventory that is. Have a lot of different beads that just arrived and will be working this month on taking pictures so that the beads can get listed for you. As you can see below have a variety of gemstones and new flower cabachons for you. Also a 6 different acrylic flower beads to create beautiful jewelry with. Was able to get different colors in dyed howlite skulls which will be so fun to create with. Can't wait to get some good pictures and start working on the listings. Today just got 2 boxes of glass beads, glass pearls, shell beads, and porcelain beads. So there will be a new category showing up at the bead stores for porcelain beads this month. If you have been looking for larger porcelain beads for pendants, well they will be up soon.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Ok so if you don't already know, I'm obsessed with the pictures on all the beads, gemstones, jewelry findings at Beads2string. Through the years you can see the difference right here on the blog with the evolution of product pictures. The following questions usually go through the mind when deciding on the photography look of the store:

Do you have an object in the background?
Should you use different bright colored backgrounds to look fresh and funky?
Should you use a classic black background or perhaps a white background?

Originally started with white backgrounds and then went for some changes. Tried the different color backgrounds and it was fun, but just not the over all look I wanted for the stores. Really loved the look of the black background. Think it was more artistic and classy. In most pictures also had included an object that the beads were draped on. Started to browse around and realized that if Beads2string was going to expand even bigger across the world the pictures needed to be uniform in look. Although, the black was artsy fartsy I needed to be able to grab a window shoppers attention, bring them into the store, and really let the beads speak for themselves. If you look at most of the big bead guys they have the white background and in a way it does look more professional. Plus there are studies out there that indicate more people click through to the website with white backgrounds.

So there you have it... white backgrounds it is. Though stones like moonstone, quartz will have to be done on a different color so you can see it as we all know white on white is a little hard to see haha. It would be so simple to go back to those pictures if only. ARGH! Yes, all of those pictures were lost when my computer took a nose dive. For the past 2 years I've been trying to recapture the beautiful pictures that once were. Kept getting red or blue hues. Just couldn't get the look that was originally there. Believe this to be the key to why I lost my gumption, my pizazz, motivation to get hundreds of beads listed. But there is an ah and a very big AHH!! to this story. Recently received a piece of furniture from a friend. I looked at it and said hmmm wonder how pictures would turn out. Well guess what, they are fabulous. Just the thing to get my gumption, pizazz, and motivation back to bring you beautiful treasures of the earth, marvels of glass and metal to create your work of art. Here is a couple of sneak peeks at the new and improved photos that will be going up.

Wow, even making this post and seeing the above pictures is making me excited. That is just what I need to keep Beads2string alive and grow to the next step. Just can't wait for the next growth spurt and be able to bring you even more wonderful treasures.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

A Step Up

Some may know that last year was a new beginning for the Beads2string family. That is to say a new website was on its way. It would be great for those Customers who do not want to shop via a venue but rather one separate website. So began the creation of http://Beads2string.com. I was all excited and geared up to take this task on, learning more about html and coding. It was looking really good, and then came the task of uploading the bead and findings inventory. Do you know how many items Beads2string actually has at this time? May be small compared to the big bead guys but, there is over 1,000 items and continually growing. With this next step in the family it will be able to help the business grow so that will mean the inventory can grow. It will be exciting some day to look back on this blog and laugh because there will be thousands of items in the inventory at that time. Bring it on I say! (haha)

Well in the fall of last year I became really sick and did not know what was going on. A few trips to the emergency room, plenty of Dr visits and they were able to determine what was going on. It meant a couple of surgeries and of course the run around of getting those appointments set in stone. I won't bore you with the details. As my body is not normal and already have auto-immune issues, fibromyalgia, Sjogrens, sleep apnea this caused complications which meant more delays. I am now glad to say that is all behind me, I pray to our Lord that there won't be an extended stay in the hospital for me for a very long time. (This also explains why I've been absent from blogging lately.)

Now the good stuff... yes have been able to get back to work and finish the details of the new website. So now has been the process of listing beads, beads, and more beads. Oh and don't forget the jewelry findings. And since my exist from Etsy, have also been getting the other 2 venues fully stocked. The below is a sneak peek at the new website. Payment method choices will be Google Wallet or PayPal. The quantities for findings have been dropped so that you can better choose how many you want. While I work on this the inventory for all websites are becoming the same amount. Therefore, you can go to the location you prefer to shop and visit Beads2string. But please don't think you can grab the same item from all sites as this would cause a refund to you. (When you bought from one site, you bought what was available on the other sites.)

Some beads will be available as half strands (approx. 8 inch). With jewelry findings the quantity will be by piece or a low amount. This is to allow you to choose the quantity you would like to purchase. Beads are shipped Worldwide for your enjoyment.

Do you have concerns about the shipping/handling amount of your order? Please review the shipping under "Policies" of the store. The s/h amount for each additional item can be found in the item description at the bottom marked "handling".

Please keep in mind when shopping at Beads2string on this site there is no need to purchase from http://Beads2string.ecrater.com. The two are the same store with the same beads including the quantity of beads. Buying the same exact bead at both sites can not be done. Beads2string is available on different venues so that you can purchase from the website you prefer to use.

Shop Beads2string @ ecrater

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About Me

Isn't a creative soul the most amazing thing? Have been creating since I was very young. Painting ceramics that Grandma would make. Then Grandpa made a dollhouse, I was hooked on making minatures from then on. A fascination for the hunt of vintage and antiques grew. Thrift stores, antique malls, that is my kind of shopping. This grew until I became an Antique Dealer. What also grew was my passion to create and open my first booth in a craft mall. This lasted for a few years. Kind of got away from my talents and working too much. Crafting has called me back. I picked up my pliers, beads and started selling my designs. Moved to Texas and have enjoyed going to fairs/festivals selling my jewelry. So this is me, the silly yet at times crazy, sarcastic, creative mind of Beads2String.